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Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

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Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#41

Post by haswell »

clint wrote: post #28
majormajor wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, what do you do to build up trust? You talk. What do you do when talking leads to them saying "I understand, next time I'll either get it done faster, or let you know when I realize it's gonna slip" but then what actually happens is that it slips without them giving you any updates again after all? Repeatedly? Talking doesn't build trust when the actions don't match the talk.

You fire them. What's so difficult about that?

A lack of trust and/or misalignment on goals doesn’t automatically mean the employee is a poor performer. If your first resort is to fire them, there is no reason to believe the same problem won’t happen with the next employee.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#42

Post by neilk »

The advice here seems practical but only if you have a very fixed mindset about who people are.

That might be appropriate sometimes but I think it’s worth trying to heal relationships. On the theory that managers are also humans, try to imagine why they are micromanaging.

One of the biggest problems in computerland is that we promote technical specialists to manage people and strategy. Many people are far more comfortable with, and nostalgic for, the craft of programming. Such a manager ends up dictating solutions that would have been brilliant about 5 years ago, but which don’t match current practice.

Other managers are coping with the trauma of employees who wasted tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars on things that don’t work out. This manager trusts themself technically so reluctantly (actually not so reluctantly) they try to dictate solutions.

The common characteristic here is someone who perceives themselves to have high technical skill but very shaky skills with management and hiring. They feel fear and uncertainty in that domain and fall back on technical skill + their new authority to command people. Imagine if you were in draining meetings all day struggling with abstract squishy problems under limited information. They want the joy of feeling _smart_ again.

Some organizations can support such a manager to buff their people skills but that’s rare. If this person’s ego can take it, it’s worth using your 1:1 to point out the dysfunction and trying to ask them what it would take for them to be more hands-off. They probably are in some kind of pain that causes them to micromanage and maybe in a small way you can relieve that pain.

This won’t work with everyone! If your boss has ego or narcissism issues they cannot see you as an equal.

It is often a no-win situation but in some cases I still think it’s worth trying.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#43

Post by halfmatthalfcat »

shoto_io wrote: post #2

Ok, I am going to be brutally honest here. Some may not like it. Micromanaging is complicated. When I was in a leadership position I was the happiest boss when I could let people just do their thing and come back with great results and we'd be all happy. And that's how I loved working with my bosses before as well. But then again, I had some employees I had to micromanage. I really, really abhorred it. But there was…

“Hire slow, fire fast”

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#44

Post by chandmk »

The idea that one can 'manage' another seems very primitive to me. Every one that did good job for me did so because they genuinely wanted to do a good job, not because I 'managed' them somehow. All I did was to steer the work towards the goal. If they didn't like the work to begin with or didn't have enough skills and inclination to learn, no amount of 'management' would have corrected that situation.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#46

Post by toast0 »

marcinzm wrote: post #27
shoto_io wrote: post #2

Ok, I am going to be brutally honest here. Some may not like it. Micromanaging is complicated. When I was in a leadership position I was the happiest boss when I could let people just do their thing and come back with great results and we'd be all happy. And that's how I loved working with my bosses before as well. But then again, I had some employees I had to micromanage. I really, really abhorred it. But there was…

>But before you fire people, you have to invest to be absolutely sure you're doing the right thing. I disagree. It's like parents who spend all their time on the problem child, and then the children who are doing well become bitter and resentful. You're neglecting the rest of the team for one individual, who they all probably see is problematic, which is not a good way to run a team.

Work is not family. At work, I thrive on benign neglect.

While I would love for my boss to purposefully ignore me; it's ok if my boss is only ignoring me because there's no time for me after tending to the other employees. I will not be sad or resentful if my 1:1 had to be canceled because my boss had something else to do.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#47

Post by milesvp »

amrox wrote: post #33
petee wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read a good book about management recently that pretty much defined the need for micromanagement as either lack of training, and/or lack of clear expectations and appropriate resolution when those expectations are broken. The sum of it is an employee that knows the right way, and is given the freedom to do that will make the correct choices, if they fail occasionally that's ok. If they can't be trained, or refused…

I think the book is called "Turn the Ship Around"

I was only familiar with "Turn the Ship Around", so I just looked it up. Apparently there are 2 books on this topic from different captains.

"It's Your Ship", Captain D. Michael Abrashoff "Turn the Ship Around", (Captain) L. David Marquet

I'd actually be curious how much the advice overlaps.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#48

Post by diehunde »

the_arun wrote: post #7

I think "Trust" is the primary reason for Micromanaging. If a person doesn't trust their subordinates they try to micromanage. This just doesn't happen at work, at home as well (eg. between parents & kids).

I don't manage people but something I've seen several times are colleagues that are very talented but are just straight up lazy. The company would lose talent if they fire them but at the same time somebody needs to be there pushing them so they finish their tasks in a reasonable amount of time.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#49

Post by majormajor »

mixedCase wrote: post #37
majormajor wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, what do you do to build up trust? You talk. What do you do when talking leads to them saying "I understand, next time I'll either get it done faster, or let you know when I realize it's gonna slip" but then what actually happens is that it slips without them giving you any updates again after all? Repeatedly? Talking doesn't build trust when the actions don't match the talk.

It depends on whether your demands are reasonable or not if it's going to work, but: If there's a persistent lack of communication when it should've been known that a deadline is not going to be met or is at least going to be close, set-up a PIP where you lay down a checklist to follow at the start/end of the day of behaviors you expect regarding communication. If that doesn't help, then yes, firing is the correct re…

> This is all under the generous assumption that your deadlines are actually very important in the business and plans will have to be shifted if they're not met because of a harsh business reality. Otherwise it's your fault for allowing the cost of deadlines to be incurred in a team where all they will do is hinder morale, add bureaucracy and reduce productivity.

As far as most dev teams are concerned, timelines are less important for the business than they are to each other.

People don't like it when they are constantly waiting on person X to finish their part of the work. (That's a good way to know you've really dropped the ball as manager: the other team members start asking YOU what's going on with the other person.)

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#50

Post by halfmatthalfcat »

goodpoint wrote: post #39
shoto_io wrote: post #2

Ok, I am going to be brutally honest here. Some may not like it. Micromanaging is complicated. When I was in a leadership position I was the happiest boss when I could let people just do their thing and come back with great results and we'd be all happy. And that's how I loved working with my bosses before as well. But then again, I had some employees I had to micromanage. I really, really abhorred it. But there was…

> I had to micromanage And yet... > The truth is probably that I should have gotten into more serious talks with those employees instead. There you go. Very often employees are unproductive because they are unhappy. > As an employee, try to be as a reflective person as you ask your boss to be one It's the people-manager job to understand people. It's not the employee's job or skillset.

No, it’s a shared responsibility. It’s the managers job to set up someone for success not to make them successful. If a report is not responding to that, then it’s the report’s fault for either not applying themselves or just not a good culture fit for the org. Nothing wrong with the latter either, mind you. Some people just don’t work in the existing system.
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